Abrons Arts Center Season Includes a Parody of an Albee Classic

Photo

Scott Shepherd, seated on floor, as Nick in the Elevator Repair Service production “Gatz” at the Public Theater in 2010.Credit Sara Krulwich/The New York Times

“Everyone’s Fine With Virginia Woolf,” a parody of Edward Albee’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,” will have its premiere next spring in a staging by the innovative troupe Elevator Repair Service (“Gatz”).

The production is part of the coming season at Abrons Arts Center, a downtown home of adventurous performance and visual art, the organization announced on Sunday.

This will be the first season programmed by Craig Peterson, who joined Abrons last September as its artistic director. In a statement, he said that the lineup was designed to confront “the issues that are shaping our lives.”

“Gun control, immigration and gentrification are central themes in the performances and exhibitions that will take over our stages and galleries in the coming months,” he added.

Elevator Repair Service, whose stage adaptations of “The Sound and the Fury” and “The Great Gatsby” (a verbatim reading called “Gatz”) have earned awards and critical praise, is turning to Albee’s masterpiece for its latest production, written by Kate Scelsa, a member of the company. In the irreverent parody, “rubbing alcohol will be consumed, imaginary pregnancies will be indulged, and gender constructs will be destroyed once and for all,” the troupe said in a statement.

Other highlights from the season include “Then a Cunning Voice and a Night We Spend Gazing at Stars” (Sept. 1 through Oct. 8), an installation of quilts by Makwa Studio and a performance by Emily Johnson/Catalyst that will move to Abrons after its premiere on Randalls Island on Saturday.